University: Environmental Monitoring

Northern Arizona University, AZ

Environmental Monitoring for sustainability and resilience

Northern Arizona University’s Green Fund granted funding for a Pulsar 800 Weather Station and Orion Air Quality Monitoring Complete station for climate research, sustainability measures, and campus safety. The NAU Green Fund’s mission is to “promote student participation in and provide funding for projects that reduce NAU’s negative impact on the environment and create a culture of sustainability on-campus.”

The student-led project proposal outlined how an on-campus environmental monitoring station would benefit both the university and the greater Flagstaff community:

Comprehensive, On-Site Environmental Monitoring

“The Campus Environmental Monitoring Station will provide a sophisticated weather station and air quality monitor to Northern Arizona University’s Flagstaff Mountain Campus. This station itself will collect real time data on weather variables (such as air temperature, precipitation, wind speed, wind direction, solar radiation, lightning detection, humidity, and air pressure) and air quality. Currently, Northern Arizona University does not have a weather station or air quality meter that collects data on all of these variables simultaneously.

“Microclimate conditions across the city of Flagstaff result in disparate weather, necessitating a campus focused environmental monitoring system. A highly advanced environmental monitoring station, as proposed in this application, will provide a long-term data set of each of the variables described above, specific to campus, and at high resolution.

Accurate, Integrated System

“The Pulsar 800 weather station proposed in this application is a top-of-the-line piece of equipment from Columbia Weather and the highest quality version from the Pulsar product line. A significant advantage of ordering a dual system such as the combination Pulsar 800 and Orion AQM sensor systems from Columbia weather is that both systems seamlessly share data on the same microserver (Weather MicroServer), both mounted on the same tower, and can share a solar power system. FTP output of data from the Weather MicroServer allows for university network communication, web display of live data, and SQL storage of long-term data.

“Long-term, high-resolution weather and air quality measurements on campus would provide a vital dataset to help improve understanding about campus weather and air quality patterns, and can be used to inform future sustainability related projects. Data collected on the timing, volume, and type of precipitation throughout the year will assist in understanding hydroclimate variability and potential wildfire risk.”

The monitoring system is installed on the roof of the International Pavilion, a LEED Platinum certified building at the center of the campus. Weather data is also displayed on the NAU website for local community to view: https://cefns.nau.edu/nauws/

“The Campus Environmental Monitoring Station will provide a sophisticated weather station and air quality monitor to Northern Arizona University’s Flagstaff Mountain Campus . . . A highly advanced environmental monitoring station, as proposed in this application, will provide a long-term data set of each of the variables described above, specific to campus, and at high resolution.”

Links for additional information:

Pulsar Weather Stations Page

Air Quality Monitoring Systems

Weather MicroServer

NAU Green Fund